Care & Grooming in the Mob
by expletive deleted
Summary: Tired and injured, Tsuna still has to preside over a major mafia gathering - but the worst thing by far is choosing whether his wife or his right hand most deserves to help him. Gokudera/Tsuna/Kyoko.


The surroundings smeared past Tsuna as he walked through the Vongola mansion: People busy all over the rooms and hallways, carrying, hurrying, and cleaning in a blur of activity. Adrenaline and the lingering hyper-awareness of the dying will were fading, and it was difficult to focus now that he and the others were back in safe territory - except when someone would notice them and stop to gape.

"Keep working, everyone! We're fine!" Ryohei yelled from his side, punching the air with one arm. It sounded convincing even though he was still using the other arm to steady himself against Yamamoto's shoulder. "We won!"

"That's one heck of a shortened version," Yamamoto said, but Ryohei's reassurances got everyone back to work with scattered cheers, and sent people on security detail their way.

"Boss!" "You got 'em!" The lot of the men and women on Security Crew started looking Tsuna and the other two over, dealing out relatively gentle back-slaps and a lot of Italian threats and curses, too quick for Tsuna to follow straightaway.

Tsuna put up a hand to stop the bluster. "Enough of that! Can someone just tell me how the arrangements for tonight are doing?"

"Sir! Preparations are on schedule! But ... are you sure that we'll still have the party?"

"It can be a two-in-one celebration," Yamamoto said, grinning wearily, "since we made it back." There were more cheers, and Tsuna nodded.

Most of the security staff peeled away, pulling out walkie-talkies to deliver news of Tsuna and the other two's safety and give out instructions. Walking on, they heard a lot of other instructions flying around too: "Pull that - no! To the left -" "- Touch more spice -" and "- It _will_ be ready, don't -"; then they entered the wing where their rooms were located and the noise dimmed to somewhere behind them. Tsuna thought longingly of his bed, which there was no time to get into. It was the first Vongola party since Tsuna had got married and Reborn said that he was supposed to prove something with it. There was always something to prove.

Yamamoto stretched carefully when they reached his room. "The part of this celebration I'm going to enjoy the most is having a shower to prepare," said, folding a hand over the doorknob.

"Definitely!" Ryohei said. You could tell he was tired because he didn't yell at length about plans for recovering, which usually included training in order to cool down.

The last of the security personnel that had accompanied them plucked nervously at his own sleeves. "We were looking at seeing the first guests onto the property in half an hour..."

Tsuna groaned, but Yamamoto and Ryohei went and said yes, they'd be ready, a little fight would never get the best of them. Freaking sportsmen.

"Some of the medical guys will be over in a minute - yeah, Mr Sasagawa, no choice," the man said over Ryohei's protest. As Tsuna and the man walked on to the main bedroom, the guy said, "Except in your case, Tenth..." He opened Tsuna's bedroom door.

"Wha- but why would I not get-?" Tsuna began as he entered, hearing an embarrassing, tired petulance rising in his voice, and then went very still when he was interrupted.

"Tenth!" "Tsu-kun!"

Kyoko and Gokudera stood inside, both turning to the door. She had her arms wrapped around herself and her hands fisted, and he was chewing at a cigarette. Tsuna couldn't help it, he stepped back.

"_They're_ already here," the man finished, putting a steadying arm around Tsuna's shoulders, and lowered his voice. "I'll escort your wife out, if-"

"Hey! Stop hanging around, Orlando! I know for a fact you've got plenty to do," Gokudera said as he and Kyoko rushed over, Kyoko grabbing up the first aid kit that had been set at their feet. The reprimand sounded friendlier than it usually would, probably because of the relief that came into his expression as he scanned Tsuna.

"Tsu-kun, they said you were all right," Kyoko said. "And my brother, and Yamamoto-kun?"

"Absolutely fine, all of them," Orlando put in, smiling at her reassuringly. "Nothing to worry about, Ma'am, Sasagawa and Yamamoto are being seen to right now.

"Tenth, word about the ambush only got through twenty minutes ago, and they said it was already over! I would've set out to help immediately, otherwise!"

Kyoko stepped closer to Tsuna, the first aid box pressing into his ribs and the smell of her perfume rising above gunpowder and blood. "You are all right, aren't you?"

"Get out, I said," Gokudera told the security guy, and now his voice held that unfriendly tone he was so good at. He pulled Tsuna further into the room with a firm hand on his shoulder blades. The door shut behind Orlando, and after a few more paces - probably so they'd definitely be out of earshot from the hallway, because Gokudera always took note of things like that - they stopped. He took the cigarette out of his mouth but his other hand stayed put on Tsuna's back, unselfconscious, so _obvious_, as his face furrowed with concern. "Tenth?"

"The party," Tsuna said. "Should get cleaned up. Um, I should - it's starting soon-" He pulled away from Gokudera's hand and Kyoko's closeness.

"Right!" said Kyoko, and took a little step back too. "Yes. Then you're okay! Okay." She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Your clothes, Tenth! You'll need something clean..." Gokudera went over to the wardrobes.

"I can get that," Kyoko said.

"I know how to pick these damn suits. You've got the medical stuff."

With a soft exclamation she went to Tsuna as he headed for the en suite bathroom. Her movements made it obvious that she was going in with him, but she pulled up short suddenly. "Here," said Kyoko, handing him the first aid kit. "I'll be right here if you need me. I won't go in..." She glanced over her shoulder - to Gokudera, headfirst in Tsuna's ties and rooting around. "Because you're basically fine, right?"

Tsuna backed away into the bathroom. "Fine, yeah! It's mostly cuts."

"And I bet you'll be bruised all over tomorrow." She smiled ruefully, wrapping her arms around herself. He couldn't spare a word of comfort, because the worry in her words did nothing to undermine their intimacy, and behind her Gokudera abruptly went still. Tsuna shut the door.

Both of them, Tsuna thought as he opened the shower taps wide and water thundered down. He didn't step in yet, leaning his head against the bathroom wall. His wife and his right hand, Gokudera and Kyoko. There had been times when he had curled around Kyoko even before he'd cleaned blood off himself, because he'd needed it and she wanted the solidity of knowing he was back; in the beds they shared before and during marriage, on couches in private lounges in the Vongola mansion. Then at other times entirely there were deserted corners around Namimori, his study, the Vongola laboratory; in those places he'd run his hands over Gokudera's back, cup the back of his neck and keep him close because he couldn't bear anything less safe for either of them, and Gokudera had clung to him and afterwards quietly and professionally pretended none of it had happened.

Now: _Both of them_. The door had opened and shown them both standing there, miserable and hunched up, waiting for him to stumble into the room and - go to which one first? Allow who to do what?

That probably wasn't something he'd ever be able to answer. Maybe he could bring it up to Reborn. Getting shot seemed like an okay answer right now.

In the meantime, he did have to get into the shower, not least because they'd be suspicious if he didn't come out soon. He let the heat and pounding of the water distract him and make him drowsy, letting thoughts slip away. Tsuna wished he could stay right there for a few hours.

The door cracked open. "Gokudera-kun says it's almost..." Kyoko trailed off, and then her voice was more muffled. "He doesn't mind if I rush him, Gokudera-kun. - Of course not. - Because I know!" More clearly again, as she turned back to him: "There are underclothes here on the shelf." She closed the door again.

Tsuna hurried his shower and got his cuts disinfected and covered with plasters. He got more and more determined to going to the party as he did so. Whatever stupid point the ambush had been supposed to prove by keeping him from it - he'd counter with the equally stupid point of refusing to cancel. Tonight was supposed to be fun! He could still get that much out of this mafia life.

At the door he stopped, and thought it would be a lot more fun if he wasn't scared to leave the bathroom.

He wavered, then put his dirtied clothes back on, though at least he left the shirt unbuttoned. The second he walked out Kyoko cried, "Why are you wearing that? We're getting your new outfit!"

He couldn't have them _both_ looking at him in his underwear - and because he couldn't say that, he only watched as her face crumpled into tears. "Don't do that, Kyoko-chan ... now your make-up's smudged," Tsuna said.

Which he then realised was probably the least comforting and most stupid thing he'd said all week. The shower had left him half asleep.

"I can't help it." She waved a hand at him, the other clenched against her chest. "Your whole shirt is a smudge!"

"Holy fucking-" Gokudera muttered from over by the wardrobe, like it was less rude if he pretended they couldn't hear him. He turned, brandishing the suit he'd been looking for. "It's not a _smudge_ if it's _covered in blood_. Get it together! That's the most stupid thing I've heard all week!"

"Huh," Tsuna said, "what a coincidence."

Their heads turned sharply towards him, irritation and tears ticking straight over to concern. Normally he got mad when Gokudera talked to Kyoko like that. Right now, Gokudera's snappishness felt so normal that it seemed stupid to worry about it. "I'm tired," Tsuna said, knuckling his forehead. He thought, _I'm so sorry_.

"Of course, Tenth, it's no wonder," Gokudera said, brimming with concern and regret, and Kyoko grabbed Tsuna by his ruined shirt. "And when you were looking forward to the party, too!" she said.

"Like that matters-!" Gokudera began, stomping over, and stopped as he realised Tsuna was saying, "Yeah. That's almost the worst part. We could've been relaxing..."

There was a quiet moment where Kyoko and Tsuna looked at each other, heads bent together, recuperating and understanding and close.

It only ever lasted a few minutes at a time. Gokudera cleared his throat from where he stood, stock-still, to the side. "I apologise. Ma'am. I shouldn't have spoken like that."

"Don't call me that, it's weird," Kyoko said, looking up. "We've known each other way too long for that, even if I am supposed to be the boss's wife."

"Tenth," Gokudera said, pointedly ignoring her, "I apologise to you as well. Would you like... to be left...?"

You could see he had to swallow to get the words out, and Tsuna felt _guilty_. For being with his own wife.

"Gokudera-kun, don't..." Kyoko didn't clarify. Instead she started walking, almost making Tsuna trip as she pushed him with her, her arms keeping him upright. It was obvious what was happening, but the few seconds of knowledge weren't enough to shore him against the jolt of bumping into the solidity of Gokudera standing at attention in his dutiful attitude ... of Gokudera's body finding ways to go soft and curve around him. It shouldn't be possible. Not with a guy like Gokudera. Not with Kyoko holding him.

"You-"

All three spoke at once.

Gokudera won the next round: "The important thing now is to get ready!" he said, with his great talent for picking the wrong priorities.

"But - I thought-" That tiny, stricken voice of Kyoko's - whenever Tsuna heard it he thought it was the thing he hated most, and it was hard to tell when it would happen; when the control Kyoko tried to keep would wriggle away. He squeezed her tight, feeling Gokudera tense behind him.

"Tsu-kun," Kyoko said, "Gokudera-kun... Gokudera-kun and I, we'll _both_ help."

"You don't have to do anything for me," he said quickly, ridiculously. If he couldn't choose between them, did he deserve anything?

"We'll help!" Kyoko insisted. "So trousers first, I guess."

And then she actually began to strip him, hands on his belt buckle. Gokudera's hands clamped on his arms in a death-grip. "Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna shrieked. Gokudera didn't manage words - he just shrieked.

"I'm only trying to get ready - is it really so..." Kyoko turned her bright red face away. "You guys don't have to freak out. I thought ... we were all on the same side."

"It's not a fucking team sport, Kyoko. -San," Gokudera said hoarsely. "Don't tell me you think this stuff is simple."

She gave up a little at that, closing her eyes and leaning against Tsuna. And he stood there, fly open and so bewildered he could've been fourteen again, still leaning against Gokudera's chest and a hand still on Kyoko's waist. Two little things he could barely believe.

Over the years, Tsuna had learned how not to be a complete coward. His voice shook and he wasn't sure he really, really understood - could she really mean? could Gokudera? wasn't this wishful thinking? But he had to say it - and so he did: "It's not simple. But ... none of us have let go yet."

"We don't have to!" Kyoko said, coming upright like a word was all she'd been waiting for. "Tsu-kun, we were both so worried about you today. That's happened before. I know it's never been all three of us like this, but even so ... the two of us worry a lot. Together." She looked past Tsuna, her eyes on the edge of tearful again as she looked at Gokudera. "It was really sudden, hearing about a fight that had already been going on for an hour. There was nothing we could do. You weren't even there to help them this time!"

Tsuna flinched on Gokudera's behalf. "Hey, no, that's not fair. Gokudera-kun doesn't always-"

"I want to," Gokudera said, and Tsuna shut up. Sometimes Gokudera's care was stifling. Sometimes it made him feel like he could sink back into safety. Right now he was very aware of Gokudera's hands resting on his shoulders, and he wanted - he really wanted-

Gokudera reached out to Kyoko instead, smoothing a hand over her hair. "But ... it was all right, this time. Yamamoto and your brother were there. You don't have to worry so much when it's like that." He punched her very lightly on the shoulder. "I keep telling you."

Kyoko smiled. "You do."

He did? Tsuna looked over his shoulder, frowning. _She's my wife. And ... she's been your friend for years, and I'm still too scared to tell her enough that she knows what to be afraid of._

"Sorry, Tenth," Gokudera said. "I won't do that again. It's just she's got some of the same genes as Lawnhead, this family practically speaks by punching."

"Don't be silly, Tsu-kun, that wasn't a hard punch at _all_. Like Gokudera-kun would do that!" Kyoko said, and pushed his shirt off his shoulders. "Now, I hope you haven't messed up this vest..."

With the extra, purposeful touch amidst all the comfort and warmth, Tsuna started. Pulling back only got him closer to Gokudera, and suddenly he wanted to squirm ... but definitely not to move away. She looked at him with wide eyes, lingering on the blush he felt reddening his cheeks. "I really only meant to help you for the party," Kyoko said, considering - and then sneaked a look at Gokudera. She started to grin.

Tsuna didn't dare look, no matter how much he wanted to. It was nearly a lost cause; Gokudera was so close. It was still difficult to admit that it was never close enough. Now those hands on his shoulders felt hot enough to burn through the thin vest. They tugged his sleeves down his arms, and he could hear Gokudera breathe like it was a complicated thing to do.

"Are you ready?"

It would have been bad enough if the question came from one of them, but Tsuna would have been able to work with it.

As it was, the words came from over by the bedroom door. The open bedroom door.

"It's nearly time ... for... Aa," said Yamamoto, with a reflective look. "That explains a lot."

"GET OUT!" Gokudera clarified, so it was just as well that Yamamoto had figured things out for himself.

"Please don't stare," said Kyoko, dignified in the manner that she and Haru agreed suited a Don's wife, except that she was blushing deeply and twiddling the fingers she'd yanked back from Tsuna's chest. "We'd appreciate our privacy, Yamamoto-kun!"

"Yeah, I ... I just..."

He was still reeling in his eyebrows from great heights when Kyoko's eyes went wider and her face paler and she said, "Unless ... you planned to..." - the pitch of her voice heightened - "join us...?"

Yamamoto stared. And then he looked intrigued.

"Would that even be any weirder?" Tsuna said, muffled because of holding his head in his hands.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT!" Gokudera replied.

Tsuna nodded, sighing. "Yeah, yeah of course."

The door slammed shut and shuddered in the frame. "Sorry, you guys," Yamamoto said from the other side, and over the sound of footsteps walking away, they heard him start laughing.

Kyoko heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Gokudera shook his hands over her shoulders, clearly restraining himself from grabbing and shaking her.

"Conflict management? In the family?" That sounded familiar. Reborn had given her lessons too, after she'd married Tsuna. "I don't know! It wouldn't have been that much weirder!"

"It definitely would," Tsuna said, with finality. "And ... maybe we should get going now."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"There are a few more minutes, still," Gokudera said. "Yamamoto was probably looking for company."

"Um, I mean," Tsuna said. "You guys can let me go."

They did not. They both looked at him, Gokudera leaning sideways to see his face. Tsuna didn't know what they were trying to see, but he couldn't keep the freaked-out look from his face and so didn't try, and he couldn't keep off the guilt for disappointing them if they wanted to see something sweeter.

"You're not listening," he said, trying for irritable just so he could get some space and maybe (miracle of miracles) personal equilibrium, but his voice was a cracked whisper. Kyoko's arms went round his waist and Gokudera squeezed his shoulders.

"I didn't mean to say that to Yamamoto-kun. It popped out," Kyoko said, and Gokudera said, longing and satisfied at the same time: "This is perfect. Don't worry about changes."

Kyoko grinned at him with a bright-eyed look. "Like Gokudera said." She looked to Tsuna again. "Perfect."

He wasn't surprised to feel Gokudera's face press into his hair, hiding his own honesty. If it were only the two of them, Gokudera might've been comfortable enough to say it and not care how it sounded, just say it and mean it completely...

"I'll get myself dressed," Tsuna said. "In the bathroom. You guys still need to-" He kissed Kyoko, dipping down, and turned awkwardly to press his mouth against Gokudera's. It got his point across, and they also loosened their grips in surprise. "Still need to get ready too."

He grabbed the outfit Gokudera had laid out on the bed, and only looked at them when he turned to close the bathroom door. They stood staring at each other, and then turned away and busied themselves at opposite ends of the room, Kyoko going to her own wardrobes and Gokudera to the windows. Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, and reminded himself: It's not simple. I'm not letting go.

When he stepped back out of the bathroom, still making comb-attacks on his hair as if it would ever look neat, Kyoko was sitting at her dressing table and reapplying her makeup. For the first time he noticed how she looked - the dress light purple with the puffy kinds of sleeves she liked, the material shining dimly, and her hair sweeping down her back. He leaned against the doorframe to look.

"Wouldn't a few armbands be fine? I always think it looks a little odd when you aren't wearing that kind of thing," Kyoko was saying.

"It's 'odd' when I _do_ wear that stuff," Gokudera said. It would have sounded rude if they hadn't known him for ten years. "If there's one bad thing about the Mafia, it's these fucking penguin suits all the time."

Kyoko gasped an incredulous laugh. "That's the one bad thing you'd pick?"

"Tenth," Gokudera said. It startled Tsuna to be noticed so suddenly. He looked Gokudera's way and then looked down quickly; now he noticed the clean lines of Gokudera's suit, making him look sharp and ready, and it felt weird to go from staring at one to staring at the other.

"Good choice, Gokudera-kun!" Kyoko said. "Tsuna-kun looks good in the gray suit."

Gokudera nodded, walking to Tsuna. He didn't touch him - did reach out, awkwardly, and then shoved both hands in his trouser pockets. Maybe then he told himself it was all right to repay a debt - return a favour - however he liked to justify things, because he gave Tsuna the same haphazard kiss that Tsuna had given him. Rough and warm.

He straightened quickly. "Kyoko?" he said, still turned away from her, fear on his face.

She came over and looked him up and down, and then straightened his tie. "Perfect?"

He kind of tackled her in a brief hug, and came up looking like it had been more for her benefit than his, because Kyoko laughed loud and genuine. He kept a hand on her shoulder, though. "Now tell her to dig out those combs she got for her birthday, Tenth. The ones with the pearls."

"Huh?" said Tsuna.

Kyoko pulled a face. "Those things always end up sticking into my head by the end of the evening!"

"Those things were given to you by a Beccio. You know that family is supposed to know more about the Mafia than even the Vindice. Don't piss them off!"

"They couldn't possibly get angry about something like that. And those combs are really expensive, I always worry about losing them if I don't wear them tight, so-"

"You look really pretty," said Tsuna, trying not to duck his head. He was allowed to say stuff like this about Kyoko. Even in front of Gokudera. "When you have your hair up. It looks nice."

She smiled with a sigh. "All right, you two win."

"Hah," said Gokudera, "and here I thought we were all on the same team. C'mon, I'll help you."

"What do you know about doing other people's hair?"

"Then I need to collect data," Gokudera said imperturbably. Kyoko gave him an amused, wondering look, but his hands stroking through her hair made her smile. She looked over at Tsuna - permission? - and then positively beamed, although he wasn't entirely sure what his expression was like.

Tsuna watched them with a sharp stab of emotion: surprising pain, some envy, and above all relief. He'd never let himself notice the way they'd come to work together, too nervous whenever he saw them together. And maybe things were changing in this relationship he was starting to notice - Gokudera was indulging in spoiling Kyoko like he always did with Tsuna, and she was pleased and surprised under the attention, meeting his eyes and making him smile too.

Gokudera also hurried the process along, though, so they wouldn't be too late. Kyoko barely expressed approval before he pointedly offered his arm and gestured to the door.

"Let's go downstairs and get them," Kyoko said, getting up, "and all their Italian small talk."

"Practice more!" Gokudera told her.

"Tsu-kun's almost as bad at it as I am!"

"Everyone who's actually decent to us speaks Japanese," Tsuna said, a little shame-faced.

"Fuckers," Gokudera muttered. "So ... who are the ones who speak Italian?"

"Tsu-kun." Kyoko elbowed him. "You let the secret out. Don't get upset, Gokudera-kun. If it's about anything serious, Reborn-kun usually pops up."

"Yeah, but then he also starts talking in Italian and then he and the other person both start laughing at you," Tsuna said.

Kyoko laughed at him too. "Is that how it works for you?"

It was strange to let distance between them as they left the room, with a few last touches to adjust ties, pins, a shawl. The three of them grew more subdued as they walked on and the rest of the mansion got louder.

But even in the middle of parties, Tsuna and Kyoko had a knack for finding each other's eyes across a room; he could turn to the fringes of the room or loud nodes in the crowd and find Gokudera keeping an eye on things; and he found out that Kyoko could make what looked like a seriously rude gesture, Gokudera would nod and disappear, and suddenly all the snacks around the room got refreshed. He still couldn't quite believe it was all working out like this.

After most of the party had petered out, when it was quiet again, he could. The three of them drew together so naturally that no one questioned it as they left, cheerily calling greetings and goodnights. Maybe they did it too easily, but it felt like even their own questions could be left for later. After all, without questions he had both of them with him, and that was where the answers would be in the end.


End file.
